Vectren Dayton Air Show
managers weren't saying ahead of time what they would
announce at today's press conference, but the setting
gave a pretty good hint: Right in front of the
newF-22A
exhibit
in theNational Museum of the U.S. Air
Force.
The announcement, of course, was that the Air
Force'sRaptor demo team
will fly at the 2008 air show on July 19-20 at Dayton
International Airport.
Well, OK, I knew what was on the agenda because I'm
on the air show's board of trustees. Still, it was a
pretty cool way to announce it. And I'm jazzed
thatMajor Paul "Max" Moga
will be demonstrating the big fighter's surprising
maneuverability: I've yet to see the demo live, but
the videos on the Internet — like the one below — are
astonishing. How does it do
that?
We're
calling it a "homecoming" because the Raptor has its
roots in the Dayton area atWright-Patterson Air Force
Base.
Two major research organizations there had a lot to
do with shaping the airplane you will see this
summer. The Foreign Technology Division (now
theNational Air and Space Intelligence
Center)
analyzed the new-generation fighter and missile
technologies the Soviet Union was developing in
the 1970s and '80s, and the Flight Dynamics
Laboragtory (now theAir Vehicles Directorate
of theAir Force Research
Laboratory
developed the new technologies U.S. fighters would
need to defeat them. F-22 acquisition continues under
theAeronautical Systems
Center,
also based at Wright-Patterson, a unit of Air
Force Material Command. ASC’s
478th
Aeronautical Systems Wing remains responsible for
design, production, deployment, modernization and
sustainment of the aircraft. Also
booked for this year's show: Civilian
PerformerSean D.
Tucker,
flying his one-of-a-kind Oracle Challenger II
biplane. Sean has won every major award in the air
show industry; this summer he'll be inducted into
theNational Aviation Hall of
Fame,
joining the ranks of The Wright Brothers, Charles
Lindbergh and Neil Armstrong. Sean will also be on
the cover of The Dayton air Show: A Celebration
in Photographs, byTy Greenlees
andme.
Joining
Sean for its first Dayton appearance be the newly
formedCollaborators Formation Aerobatic
Team.
Introduced to the air show circuit in 2007, The
Collaborators is a four-ship team that combines
the grace and beauty of tight formation flying
with hard-charging aerobatics. Sean flies Lead,
with his son Eric on left wing; Ben Freelove, on
right wing, and Bill Stein, a former Red Baron
Squadron pilot, in slot. Stein, an accomplished
formation aerobatic pilot, serves as the team’s
formation instructor and will also perform a solo
routine.
Want
more? Here's what else the air show
announced:
